Offense was the main headline grabber during the year, and
it came often and continuously.

It was an explosive offense
that helped the Golden Eagles
establish a 17-5 record through
the first 22 games of the season,
which equaled a record set two
years prior. As the year progressed,
Southern Miss went on to post two
six-game win streaks and two four-game win streaks. And not once
during the year did they lose more than three
contests before notching a win.

The year was full of milestones, but two identified the season more than any other. The first
occurred on April 20. That’s when, with the help
of two grand slam homers by David Vilardi and
Matt Baltz, along with a two-run shot from Darren
Welch, the Eagles notched the club’s 1,000th victory with a run-rule shortened 13-1 victory over
Nicholls State.

The second occurred at the end of the season after the Golden Eagles came out of the
Conference USA Tournament. With a third-place
finish, Southern Miss earned a right to play the
NCAA Regionals for the first time since 1991.

Although the team made tremendous strides
throughout the course
of the season, it was
the individual effort by
the Golden Eagle players that gave the fans
plenty to talk about for
years to come.

Junior Michael
Artman burst onto the
scene with a hit parade
that began in February
on opening day and
ended 106 hits later.
Artman set a school
record, as did his 82
singles. His 33-game
hitting streak was the
second-best in school
history. For the year, he
averaged above .400
and his on-base percentage was .490. On
defense, he was part
of school-record 80
double plays. He was
named to the NCAA

Sub-Regional All-Tournamentteam, the Conference USA All-Tournament team and a first-teamnod for Conference USA.Sophomore Dusty Haley ledthe squad with 15 home runs.During the week of April 5-11, heearned Conference USA Hitter ofthe Week honors by going 10-for-
20 with three home runs and 10RBIs against Ole Miss, Samfordand UAB.Sophomore DeQuincy Scott was a fan favoriteduring the course of the year. Once he was giventhe chance, he proved his value, especially on May
2, when he had a pair of doubles and drove in threeruns against Charlotte. During the regional, Scott hitfour towering home runs in four games.Senior pitcher Tyler Kee came to the hill 39times and finished with 10 saves. He was namedto the NCAA Regional All-Tournament team.Catcher/designated hitter Darren Welch alsohad a flair for the dramatic. During a series withTulane, he swatted a three-run homer in the bot-tom of the 14th that capped a miracle comebackand ended the longest game in school historywith a 9-8 victory.Despite the success, it was old foe, Alabama,who would be the nemesis for the GoldenEagles. On March 5, the Golden Eagles traveledto Tuscaloosa for a regular-season contest thatwould foreshadow what would come at the endof the season.Southern Miss and Alabama slugged it out foreight innings, with the Tide holding a two-runadvantage. The Golden Eagles had runner in posi-tion to tie the game in the inning, before Alabamarelief pitching came in and shut the door.The Golden Eagles started the NCAA Regionalin Tuscaloosa with a hard-fought 20-13 victoryover South Alabama. Then Southern Miss facedAlabama in the first of two matchups. The twoteams once again battled throughout the game,but the Tide prevailed once again with a 10-4victory. Southern Miss bounced back with a
10-9 victory over South Alabama to stave offelimination before dropping a close 7-6 decisionto Alabama in the championship round.For the season, Southern Miss set a schoolrecord for home victories with 27 against onlythree defeats. Coach Corky Palmer met and evenexceeded expectations. Although hampered witha young pitching staff, the Golden Eagles wereable to quell several threats that came their wayduring the course of the season and overpowerthe opposition with their bats.